Slow Burn
by NaomiMiller
Summary: "1. An attraction for someone that is not instant, but grows over time. 2. The process of becoming attracted to someone over a period of time." When Ginny finds Harry with another woman, she turns to someone unexpected for help. T for language, may be subject to change later.
1. Hell Hath No Fury

_**Wow. When my muse comes back she comes back with a vengeance! I can't seem to get her to shut up these last couple of days, but I am certainly not complaining. I've been toying with the idea of this pairing for a while now, but it was only recently that I figured out how I wanted their story to play out. Now, I'll shut up and let you read. DISCLAIMER: Any thing, one, or place you may recognize belongs solely to JK Rowling. Enjoy!**_

**Ginny**

"Ginny! Please it's not what you think!" Harry called after her as the fiery redhead stormed out of the bedroom. She spun, pinning him to the spot with a glare that struck fear in even the bravest of men. Harry froze midway through zipping his pants up. If looks could kill he'd have been dead and six feet under yesterday.

"Not, what I think? Really, you're trying to pull _that_ bullshit on me?" The icy calm of her voice was worse than if she had just hauled off and yelled at him. "Because I _think_ I just found _you_ my boyfriend of the last six and a half years, bleeding _shagging_ that bloody bimbo waitress from the pub down the road in our bed. So don't tell me it's not what I think, because it bloody well is." As if sensing she was the current subject of conversation, said bloody bimbo waitress came out of the room properly dressed now. She visibly flinched under Ginny's steely gaze.

"I think this is my cue to leave," she said trying to maneuver her way past the arguing couple. Ginny slammed an arm in front of her, cutting off her escape.

"Oh no, please stay. Don't let me spoil the fun. I was just leaving, something I should've done a long time ago." Ginny turned to leave, but Harry grabbed her arm to stop her. She glared down at the hand on her elbow.

"Take you bloody hand off me or I will hex you five ways to next Sunday."

Knowing she was fully capable of carrying out that threat, Harry let her go. Ginny had just made it to the door when he lashed out.

"Fine! To be honest I wasn't getting any satisfaction from you lately anyways. Who can blame me, who can love a frigid bitch who's always working and never home. Don't blame me for looking for some company."

Before he could react Ginny pulled out her wand and aimed it at him. A second later he was surrounded by an angry swarm of bats. The bimbo waitress screamed.

"Fuck off Potter," Ginny said yanking the door open and storming off into the night. As soon as she was able, she apparated with a loud crack, the reverberating echo sounding like a door permanently slamming shut.

When Ginny arrived at her apparent destination, it took her a moment to realize she was in Diagon Alley. Everything came slamming home to her then and the impending tears that had been threatening to spill over finally came. Ginny ducked into an alley between Ollivander's and the Owl Emporium, leaning against as the wall as huge, gut-wrenching sobs wracked her body. She didn't know if she could bear the pain that was searing through her body at the moment. She had never felt so hurt and angry and betrayed in her entire life.

Once the sobs subsided, Ginny wiped her eyes as her pain was slowly replaced with anger. The only thing she could think of doing was to forget the bastard, forget everything for awhile. So she headed for the Leaky Cauldron, where she installed herself at the bar and got herself a pint to drown her sorrows in.

**Oliver**

Oliver was supposed to meet his team's manager, Chad Donahue, at the Leaky Cauldron to discuss business, but Puddlemere United's money nazi never showed up. Oliver had arrived fifteen minutes before the designated arrival time of eight and grabbed a table to wait. Two pints and half an hour later he finally gave up on the man. Chad may have a brilliant mind for business, but for everything else he was about near worthless. Oliver was just debating whether or not to leave when a loud voice coming from the direction of the bar drew his attention.

A fiery-headed young woman sat at that bar, animatedly exclaiming to one of the bartenders about some bloke. Her wildly gesticulating hands were in perilous danger of knocking several of the glasses in front of her off the bar. Oliver had a nagging sensation in the back of her mind that he knew her from somewhere. He glanced at the collection of beer mugs and shot glasses in front of her in surprise. _How is she even sitting upright right now? She must be three sheets to the wind, _he wondered in amazement. Oliver shook his head and decided to call it an early night. He drained the last of his pint and went to the bar to settle the tab.

As he got closer, Oliver began to catch more of the conversation. Of course at the volume the redhead was shouting, it was impossible not to unless you were completely deaf.

"Can you believe it? I gave him six and a half _years_ of my life and what does he do? He goes gallivanting off and sleeps with the first floozy who bats her eyelashes at him and fluffs his pompous, overinflated ego and thinks that damn lightning scar of his is dashing and rogueish," the woman spat. The mention of the scar clicked another piece of the puzzle together in Oliver's head, but he still couldn't place where he knew the woman from. At that moment Tom came over to take his money.

"Mr. Wood, that was a fine game you all played against the Canons on Saturday," the barkeep said ringing him up.

"Thanks Tom, I thought the team was in pretty good form, not to mention the Canons certainly aren't quite up to par this year," Oliver agreed. A loud thump that vibrated the bar, made him jump. He looked over to see that the source of the noise was the angry woman. She had drained the last of her most recent pint and slammed the glass down on her bar. A few of the other patrons who were seated nearby gave her annoyed glances. Oliver had to agree with them, it was a little early on a Tuesday to be getting that smashed.

"Ms. Weasley if you continue to be intent on destroying my bar, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Tom warned her. Oliver looked up at the mention of the name Weasley. It couldn't be surely. Then it came to him. Of course, the man with the lightning shaped scar, the fiery temper, the infamous flaming red hair? The woman was Ginny Weasley, the youngest child in the Weasley clan. It was no wonder he hadn't recognized her. The last time he had seen her, she had been twelve. She had grown a considerable amount since then. Oliver reckoned she had to be around twenty-four by now. Ginny glared at Tom then looked at Oliver.

"What are you bloody looking at?" she sneered before turning back to the bar. Apparently Ginny Weasley was a mean drunk. She caught the attention of the other bartender and motioned for another pint. At this rate she was in danger of giving herself alcohol poisoning. Apparently the bartender thought the same thing.

"I'm sorry miss, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut you off for the night." Oliver saw Ginny coiling up for a fight.

"What do you mean cut me off? I'm not even drunk!" she exclaimed, her words slurring together. Oliver snorted, that was the understatement of the century. Before Ginny could go any further in making an embarrassment of herself, Oliver stepped in.

"Ginny you really should take the man's advice." She snapped around and fixed him with a withering look. To Oliver's credit he stood his ground.

"Shove off, it's none of your damn bloody business."

"Oh, but seeing as I know your brothers I think it is. They wouldn't appreciate seeing you like this."

"Who the fuck do you think you are? My mother?"

"No just a concerned friend trying to help."

"Well, I don't need your help."

Oliver grabbed her shoulder to try and pry her off of the chair. Her fist connected with his jaw so fast he didn't even see it coming until he was sprawled on the floor of the bar. By now the whole bar was watching the spectacle. Fed up with playing nice, Oliver stood and pulled out his wand.

"Ginny, I'm really sorry about this," he said before casting a full body-binding curse on her. He stepped forward and grabbed her before she fell off the chair. Tom looked at him gratefully as Oliver slung Ginny's inert form over one shoulder.

"Thank you Mr. Wood, I really didn't want to have to resort to having her bodily removed."

"Not a problem, I know her brothers and they would've skinned me alive if I'd left her here in such a state," Oliver replied before settling her tab and then heading out the door. He could feel every pair of eyes in the bar following them out. He shifted Ginny on his shoulder once he was outside before apparating them both back to his flat.

When they arrived at his flat, Oliver discovered that Ginny seemed to have finally passed out and he removed the body binding as he walked down the hall to his spare guestroom. He gently set her down on the bed, settling her head on the pillows. The redhead was completely dead to the world. He took her jacket and shoes off and pulled the covers over her before turning out the light and leaving the room. As he prepared to go to bed himself, he thought that having a drunk, passed out Ginny Wealsey as a guest was not how he thought his night would turn out.

_**A/N: As always I would love to know what my readers are thinking, leave a message below.~Naomi**_


	2. A Woman Scorned

**A/N: I am on fire! All puns intended. So apparently all I need to do to get my muse talking again is move halfway around the world and presto! I already have chapter three up and ready to post and chapter 4 is started. DISCLAIMER: Any thing, one, or, place you may recognize belongs solely to JK Rowling. Enjoy!**

**Ginny**

Ginny didn't surface until almost three in the afternoon the next day. The first thing that she noticed was the pounding headache throbbing against the fragile-feeling barrier of her skull. It felt like a million leprechauns were dancing a raucous jig on her brain. Ginny groaned and rolled over on her back. Her eyes felt like someone had welded them shut with crazy glue. When she finally managed to pry them open, she was barely able to suppress a scream as the light pierced her eyes and the leprechauns strapped on their metal-shod tap shoes. Just _what_ had she done last night?

Ginny opened her eyes just enough that she could see her surroundings without exposing her eyes to the full force of the sunlight filtering through the blinds. She could really use a Pepper-Up Potion right about now. The first thing that occurred to her as she looked around was that this wasn't the mahogany four poster bed that she was used to. It was more stream-lined and closer to the floor. The mattress was more comfortable as well.

She didn't recognize the room either. It was more masculine with deep blue walls that offset the dark hardwood floors. Quidditch photos and memorabilia were the main decorations in the room in addition to a chest of drawers, a chair, a nightstand, and a wardrobe with a full-length mirror on the front. Where was she? She didn't have any recollection as to how she had gotten here.

Ginny thought the worst had happened until she realized that she was still fully clothed underneath the quilt that covered her. In fact, she was still in her work attire from yesterday minus her jacket and shoes. The next thing she became aware of was the pressing need to go to the bathroom, immediately, but she didn't know where it was. She didn't even know where she was. As she was mentally preparing herself to get out of bed, a knock sounded on the door making her jump.

Ginny opened her mouth to answer, but only a hoarse croak came from her lips. The person on the other side of the door seemed to take her silence for permission to enter the room as the handle turned and the door opened a crack. A vaguely familiar looking man peered around the door at her. He had a slightly shaggy mop of brown hair and some of the most gorgeous blue eyes she had ever seen. Ginny was desperately trying to place where she knew this man from. She wanted to make some sense of the situation.

"You're up." The Scottish brogue combined with the all the Quidditch decorations finally clicked everything in place for her. She had somehow ended up at Oliver Wood's flat, someone she had seen much of since he graduated from Hogwarts in her second year. He had come to the Burrow once or twice to visit her brothers, whom he had played Quidditch with at some point, but for the most part his career as a successful Professional Quidditch player for Puddlemere United kept him fairly busy. Now how had she gotten here? All that she could remember was the brutal fight with Harry and then being at the Leaky Cauldron. At the thought of her fight and subsequent break-up with Harry, Ginny put her hands over her face and groaned. Maybe if she left her hands this way her head wouldn't explode. She heard the door creak open as Oliver entered the room. The floor groaned beneath his feet as he crossed to the bed.

"I figured you would probably be needing this this morning," he said from somewhere above her head. Ginny took her hands away from her face and cracked an eye open to see him holding out a bottle of Pepper-up Potion. Ginny snatched it from his hand and propped herself up on one elbow before chugging it down. She flopped back against the pillow as the sunlight became more bearable and the leprechauns slowed to a nice, ambling waltz instead.

"Merlin's great shaggy beard, _what_ did I do last night?"

"Consumed more alcohol than I thought was humanly possible while giving the poor lad tending the bar and earful about some bloke cheating on you," Oliver cheerfully informed her.

"Did I really?"

"Aye lass, you really did. Most of the pub probably knows about it too. You were three sheets to the wind when I got there."

Ginny groaned again and got up, tossing the covers aside. "Where's the bathroom, I need to pee and I feel in desperate need of a shower."

"It's down the hall, second door to your left. Towels are under the sink."

"Thanks, oh and maybe a spare change of clothes?" she asked sheepishly.

Oliver motioned to the chest of drawers and the wardrobe. "Feel free to help yourself to whatever you find. I'll get some breakfast started."

"Thanks," Ginny said grateful to have some more time before she had to face the inevitable question of what she was going to do now?

"No problem, I'll leave you to it then," Oliver said taking his leave. Ginny crossed to the chest of drawers and pulled one open at random. It looked like it was filled mostly with shirts. She dug around until she found one that seemed to be the smallest of the lot. It was dark blue and when she held it up against her, it still fell to the tops of her thighs. She pulled more drawers open until she found one that contained an assortment of what looked like exercise pants. She found a pair of gray drawstring cotton shorts and pulled them out. She opened the door of the room and padded down the hallway to the bathroom. Once she had closed the bathroom door behind her, Ginny turned the shower on full blast before stripping out of her blouse, trousers, and undergarments. She stepped into the blissfully hot shower and started to think her options over.

**Oliver**

Oliver had struggled mightily with himself not to laugh at Ginny's pathetic state this morning. He really didn't want to gain firsthand knowledge of the hexes her brothers claimed she knew. She had looked miserable when he opened the door to the guest room earlier. The Pepper-Up Potion had seemed to help though as she was upright and mobile and currently in the shower.

Oliver himself was in the kitchen frying up some eggs and bacon for breakfast. Ginny had practically started drooling when he mentioned breakfast earlier. He chuckled at the memory as he flipped the eggs over. He briefly wondered if he should owl one of her brothers that she was here, but immediately decided against it. He would wait until she figured out what she wanted to do. He was brought out of his thoughts by something large and furry wrapping itself around his legs. Oliver looked down to see his long-haired tortoiseshell tabby cat, Godric, looking up at him hopefully. Apparently he had been lured from his perch on the couch by the smell of the bacon.

"You think you're getting some of this are you?" The cat merely blinked his green eyes at him, purring like a locomotive. Oliver just shook his head at the cat.

"You're hopeless, you know that right?" he told the cat.

"Who's hopeless?" a voice said from behind him. "I hope you're not talking about me."

Oliver turned to see Ginny standing in the doorway wearing a dark blue t-shirt from his younger days with a pair of gray shorts cinched around her waist. The blue really brought out her red hair, which fell in damp waves over her shoulders. The shorts ended a few inches above her knees, exposing the smooth creamy skin of her legs. Oliver realized he was staring at her and cleared his throat before nodding at his cat.

"No I was talking to this sorry rascal here," he said. Ginny came closer until she could see Godric. She looked at Oliver with a grin.

"Somehow I always pictured you as a dog person."

"Allergic, besides cats are much better pets for people in my profession. You don't have to constantly come home to let them out, you can leave them for a couple of days on their own and not worry about them destroying the place while you're gone, and they keep you humble. Godric here doesn't care if I'm a famous Quidditch player. He'll ignore me for days if I forget to feed him. He's a very proud creature. Maybe I should've named him Buckbeak." He saw Ginny wince at the mention of the Hippogriff's name. He wondered why, but decided not to press matters at the moment.

"Godric? As in the founder of Gryffindor?" she asked, crouching down and wiggling her fingers at Godric to get him to come over.

"Yes. I wouldn't bother with that, he's usually pretty-" Oliver broke off in amazement as his normally stranger shy cat walked right over to Ginny and flopped over at her feet. She was the only person he had ever seen his cat willingly approach upon first meeting them.

"Well I'll be damned," he said as he scooped the eggs and bacon onto plates.

Ginny looked up from where she was sitting cross-legged on the floor scratching a deliriously happy Godric behind his ears. "What?"

"That's the first time I've ever seen Godric take to anyone like that. Usually it takes weeks for him to warm up to somebody," Oliver explained, putting the plates on the island in the kitchen that also held a pitcher of orange juice, a stack of toast, and a jar of strawberry jam.

Ginny stood and walked over to take a seat. Godric followed her and began to wind himself around her ankles. "Maybe I'm not everybody else."

"Apparently," Oliver said taking the seat across from her. This was the first time in a while that he was shared breakfast with anyone. Sure he'd had his share of brief flings and one-night stands as a famous Quidditch player, but none of them rarely stayed long enough for breakfast. Ginny practically shoveled food onto her plate.

"Hungry are we?"

"Starving. I'm never drinking that much alcohol on an empty stomach ever again." She paused for a moment. "Actually let me amend that. I'm never drinking that much alcohol again period." She picked up a piece of toast and placed an egg on top of it before biting into it.

"You did look pretty awful this morning," Oliver commented, consuming a piece of bacon.

"Thanks. Just out of curiosity, you wouldn't happen to know how much I drank last night?"

Oliver thought for a moment while he ate another piece of bacon. "Judging from the collection of glasses that were sitting in front of you, I'd say about nine pints of Butterbeer and seven shots of Fire Whiskey."

Ginny's eyes widened in shock, "Bloody Hell, I should be dead right now."

"You were making a good go of it. I was impressed you were even still upright."

"No wonder I felt so bloody miserable this morning."

Oliver merely left it at that for now. They ate in silence for a while and were nearly finished when she asked him another question.

"How and why did I end up here?"

"You want the whole version?"

"Yes, feel free to be honest with me."

Oliver finished off the last of his eggs before speaking. "I had gone to the Leaky Cauldron to meet the team's business manager. When he didn't show up I decided to head home. That was when I saw you, or rather heard you first. I was getting settling up with Tom when started in on your tirade about the guy you had been seeing for the last six years cheating on you. I didn't recognize you at first since that last time I had seen you, you were a second year at Hogwarts.

"You ordered another pint from the bartender and Tom told him to cut you off. When he mentioned your last name I finally realized who you were and why you looked so familiar. You got into an argument with him about how you were barely drunk, despite the fact you could barely pronounce your words. When I tried to intervene before you caused too much of a scene, you punched me so fast I didn't even see it coming till I was sprawled flat on my back." Here he absently rubbed the bruised spot on his jaw that he had noticed in the mirror when he got up this morning.

"Oh god, I did that? I'm so sorry," Ginny apologized sounding mortified.

Oliver waved her off, "Believe me, I've had far worse. That was when I resorted to drastic measures and put a full Body-Bind curse on you. I settled your tab with Tom then carried out outside and where I apparated us both back here. I put in the bed in the guest room, removing your shoes and coat since by that time you were completely passed out. As to why I did it, I knew your brothers would kill me if I knowingly left you there in such a state and I figured you were in need of somewhere to sleep it off and get some help in the morning. You were in no condition to Apparate anywhere." As he finished his story, something clicked in his brain. Remembering her reaction to hearing Buckbeak's name and some old news articles that had been published a while back about Harry Potter dating one Ginny Weasley, the younger sister of Ron Weasley, Harry Potter's best mate and a member of the Golden Trio.

"It was Harry who did this wasn't it?"

"Yes," Ginny replied miserably from where her face was buried in her arms on top of the table. Her hands had slowly crept up her face to cover her growing look of horror as he told his story. Finally she had just flopped forwards onto the table, barely missing her empty breakfast plate.

"You want to tell me about it?"

Ginny looked up at him, propping her chin on top of her folded arms. "Not really, but I might as well since you just told me about one of the most humiliating moments of my life." Taking a breath, Ginny started her tale at the beginning.

"I had gotten home early from my job as a sports writer for the Daily Prophet. When I got inside I didn't see Harry anywhere, but I knew he had the day off from his job with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I assumed he had probably run to the store for something or just went out. Instead when I walked into the bedroom I found him shagging the bloody waitress from the pub down the road in our bloody bed. I stormed out of there and he followed me prattling on about how it wasn't what I thought it was. I informed him that it was and if he didn't take his hands off me I would hex him five ways to next Sunday." Here Ginny paused, biting back the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes. She took a deep breath and ploughed on, fueled by the compassion and growing outrage in Oliver's blue eyes.

"Then he had the nerve to say that- that I was rubbish in bed and a frigid, workaholic bitch –those were his exact words- and that I can't blame him for seeking satisfaction elsewhere. I gave him my best Bat-Bogey hex and Apparated to Diagon Alley where I had a good breakdown in an empty alley and then ended up in the Leaky Cauldron and you pretty well know the rest from there." Ginny sat up and wiped furiously wiped at her eyes, which were brimming with tears.

Oliver was stunned. Even he knew you never say those things to a woman. Ever. No wonder Ginny was so furious and hurt. He never would have suspected that Harry was someone who would do such a thing like that. He found himself wanting to throttle his former Seeker.

"You want to know what the worst part about it all is?" Ginny asked, bringing him out of his musings.

"There's more?"

Ginny nodded, "Oh yes, the worst part is that I don't know how to be without him. We've been dating since I was eighteen and he finally came to his senses when the war ended. I've only ever loved him since I was eleven. That first year at Hogwarts I couldn't even speak when he was around. Now I don't know what to do. I don't know who I am without him and that bloody terrifies me. I've got my job at the Prophet to keep me occupied, but I don't have anywhere to go. I can't stay with Hermione since she married Ron a couple of years ago and they're expecting their first child. That would just be too painful. My only other option would be to move back home until I found a place of my own, but I couldn't take my mother constantly fussing over me and trying to set me up with every single man she knows. I have no plan and it scares the hell out of me."

Oliver listened to her confession, knowing that it took a lot for Ginny, or any woman, to admit something like that out loud. He had learned that from his sisters. He wanted to offer her some kind of comfort, but he didn't know what to do. So he made one of the most impulsive decisions of his entire life.

"You can stay here if you like."

**A/N: As always this is where I shamelessly beg my readers for reviews, I really do read them and take what you say into consideration. Thanks~Naomi**


	3. A Good Broom is a Cure for Every Evil

**A/N: And because I am on such a roll, here is chapter three as well! Wow, I'm surprised my hands haven't fallen off yet with as much writing I've been doing recently. DISCLAIMER: Any thing, one, or place you may recognize belongs solely to JK Rowling. Enjoy!**

**Ginny**

Ginny had gotten out of the shower feeling like an actual human being. She dressed in Oliver's baggy clothing before heading into the kitchen for breakfast. She had been surprised that he had a cat. The friendly feline had come over and flopped at her feet, begging for a scratch. Oliver had been surprised as he finished making breakfast. The smell of it had made her stomach growl.

_Definitely a change from Harry_, she thought to herself as they sat down to eat. Harry couldn't cook to save his life, even managing to burn rice, which Ginny thought was pretty idiot proof. Ginny usually cooked the meals or they went out.

They made small talk about the night before while they ate, but for the most part the food was consumed in silence. It was a weird sensation for Ginny, eating a breakfast she hadn't cooked, sitting across from someone who wasn't Harry. Finally at the end of the meal Ginny had breached the question of last night, asking Oliver for the details that she couldn't remember. When he had finished, he asked her if she wanted to talk about it.

Without really knowing why, Ginny found herself pouring her soul out to Oliver. All of her pain, hurt, and betrayal flowed out of her. He was easy to talk to, being a patient and attentive listener, something Harry definitely hadn't been. She even told him about her fears of being without Harry. For some reason she felt that she could trust him despite the fact that this was the first time she had ever really talked to him outside of pleasantries. When he finally finished they sat in silence for a moment before he spoke.

"You can stay here if you like."

Ginny was surprised by his offer. "What?"

"You can stay with me if you like. I'm hardly ever here during Quidditch season, so you'd have space to figure things out. I've got an empty guest room just sitting around. I'm not a member of your family and I'm not married, nor do I have children so no painful reminders there. Besides, Godric seems to have taken a fancy to you," he finished matter-of-factly, pointing to his cat who was now curled up in Ginny's lap having jumped up there while she was talking. She found the loudly purring, furry creature comforting.

"I couldn't Oliver. I really appreciate the offer, but I don't want to impose on you. You've been so helpful already." Even to her ears her protest sounded weak. In all honesty, his proposal sounded like the perfect solution. He was offering her somewhere away from the familiar sights and sounds where she could figure out her next move.

"You wouldn't be imposing at all. Besides, I've already decided, you're staying. No arguing about it," Oliver told her getting up and clearing the dishes. Ginny got up to help him, dislodging an unhappy Godric from her lap in the process.

"You don't have to do that," Oliver told her, taking the plates from her.

"I know, but I wanted to do this," she said throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him. Oliver returned it after a brief moment of surprise.

"Thank you," Ginny whispered in his ear.

**Oliver**

Oliver had been shocked by the hug. He hadn't been expecting it at all. Ginny whispered a thank you in his ear before letting him go and asking him if he had an owl she could borrow to let them know she wouldn't be in to work today. He pointed her in the direction of the stairs that led up to the roof, one of the advantages of his flat being on the top floor. That was where Raven, his black Screech Owl, lived. As she left Oliver finished clearing the dishes and finally gave in to Godric's loud demands for food.

While he filled his cat's dish with food, Oliver tried to think of a way that he could cheer Ginny up. He racked his brain about what to do until finally he remember something the twins had mentioned about Ginny being a pro-league worthy Quidditch player and how she was nutty about the sport. He knew exactly what to do now. He headed to his room to change clothes then waited for Ginny to return from sending her message.

When she came back about fifteen minutes later, he was waiting for her in the kitchen. She paused when she saw him standing there, beaming at her.

"What?"

"I know exactly what you need right now."

"Should I be concerned?" she asked him dubiously.

Oliver ignored her, "What you need is a good flying session and I happen to have access to one of the best places for it." He could see her eyes light up at the idea of it.

"You mean fly on a professional pitch?" she asked.

"I do."

Her smiled faded as something seemed to occur to her.

"I don't exactly have on flying attire," she said gesturing to her clothing. "All of my things are still back in my flat."

Oliver thought this over for a moment before remembering the collection of clothing left from his various dates that he hadn't gotten around to donating yet.

"Wait here; I might have a solution for that." He went into his room and rifled through the bag I his closet, earning a glare from Godric who was curled up on the bed. He found a pair of jeans that he thought might fit, along with a pair of trainers that looked to be around the right size. He grabbed one of his Puddlemere United sweatshirts and headed back out into the kitchen.

"Here we are, I think these should fit. I took a guess at the sizes."

"Do I want to know where these came from?" she asked him, crooking an eyebrow.

"Just go and get changed."

Ginny complied, disappearing into the guest room. When she came back ten minutes later she looked more relaxed and confident than she had earlier. The jeans fit her just right, hugging her in all the right places. The trainers seemed to be a good fit too, the blue matching the colors of his sweatshirt that nearly swallowed her whole. Oliver wasn't a big guy by any means, but he was tall. The sweatshirt hung down to just above her knees and she had rolled the sleeves all the way up to her elbows. It really accented just how petite she was. She had secured her fiery hair in a messy ponytail. Overall she looked the part of the sporty, Quidditch lover that her brothers had told him about.

He walked over to where she was standing, "Ready?"

"Ready." He took her hand and they apparated on the spot.

When they arrived at their destination they found themselves standing in the middle of the Quidditch pitch for Puddlemere United. He saw Ginny's eyes widen in awe as she took in the soaring heights of the stands, the shining gold of the goal hoops, and the immense size of it all.

"This is amazing."

"This is nothing, just wait until you're in the air." Oliver told her. Still holding her hand, he dragged her towards the locker rooms. When they got there Oliver went to his locker and took out his Firebolt III. Oliver laughed when saw that Ginny's jaw was nearly on the floor as she looked at the broom in his hands.

"Can I?" she said pointing to the broom in his hands. He handed it to her. She took it, running her hands reverently over the polished wood.

"I've only ever read about these, I've never seen one in person before."

"I thought you were a sports reporter for the Prophet?" Oliver said, confused. He and a few other Quidditch players had been playing on these brooms for a little over six months now.

"I am, but I only cover the minor leagues and some of the more obscure sports like Wizard's chess tournament. I haven't earned the right for the major leagues yet." Oliver sensed from her tone that this was another sore spot for her and steered the conversation in a different direction.

"Would you like to fly one?" Oliver asked her.

"Oh no, I couldn't, that's your broom."

"Don't worry, I've got a spare one you can use. We always have one broom on reserve for every player should something happen to theirs during a match."

"Y-you have a _spare_ Firebolt III?" she said slowly as if she didn't believe him.

"Yes, come on." Ginny followed him to the broom storage unit where he unlocked his spare broom from its case. He carefully took it out and handed it to her.

She held it in her hands, looking like she might cry. "I'm really going to fly a Firebolt III." She looked up at Olive, her eyes shining with delight, "I think I love you."

Oliver grinned, "Come on Weasley, let's go see if all those glowing reports your brother gave me about your flying abilities are true."

"If it was my brothers giving you reports about me, I'm sure they were hardly glowing," she told him wryly as they each grabbed an end of the case that held the balls for playing Quidditch.

"You'd be surprised, you're brothers are actually right proud of you," he told her as they carried everything onto the pitch.

"Why don't we just fly for a while first so you can get a feel for the broom," he suggested as they mounted up.

"Works for me" she said. Before Oliver could even blink she had the broom up in the air and was hovering over his head, looking down at him.

"Well come on Wood, let's see if you've really earned that famous reputation of yours."

"Okay, you asked for it," Oliver said kicking off from the ground and joining her.

**Ginny **

Ginny hadn't realized just how much she had missed flying until now. She hadn't really had the time since she graduated from Hogwarts and started working for the Daily Prophet. She had only had the chance to take her old Nimbus 2002 out maybe once or twice a month when she went home to the Burrow and could fly in the orchards behind her family's house.

Oliver had been right, this is exactly what she had needed. Nothing could touch her when she was up here. She could leave all her worries on the ground for a while. She loved the feeling of the wind whipping around her. She loved the height and speed of flying. Flying in the giant space of the professional pitch was exhilarating. She looked over at Oliver who was flying beside her and grinned. He grinned back at her in response.

Oliver was something else entirely. She felt like she had known him forever, which in a way was true, but it was more like they had been friends forever. She felt completely at ease with him. There was something about him that she felt she could trust. He offered her something that she needed right now and that was an unassuming and simple friendship. That and the simple joy of flying.

The Firebolt III handled like a dream as she maneuvered it around the pitch. It took hardly any pressure at all to turn it or accelerate. She dove towards the ground and then pulled it almost straight back up to shoot towards the sky. She wove in between the goal posts and turned in lazy corkscrews, completely oblivious to everything but the simple joy of flying.

**Oliver**

Oliver had pulled off to the side for a while and just hovered there, watching Ginny fly. She was more than a fair flier; she was a bloody good flier. It had been a while since he had seen anyone look as natural on a broom as she did. The Firebolt seemed to be an extension of her, rather than a separate piece of equipment. It was a sight to get any Quidditch recruiter drooling. Oliver couldn't take his eyes off her.

Eventually she noticed him sitting there and flew down to join him, a giant grin plastered on her face.

"Enjoying yourself are we?" he asked her with a smile.

"Yes. It's a beauty to fly," she said stroking the handle of the broom.

"It is. You're not a bad flier yourself either."

Ginny shrugged, "I'm alright, it's been a while since I've had any real practice."

"Bollocks, that's not what I saw and I've flown with some of the best. What position did you play back at Hogwarts?" Oliver asked her.

"Chaser," Ginny told him brushing a stray strand of hair that had escaped from her ponytail out of her face. Oliver grinned, looking slightly maniacal.

"Oh really?"

"Yes, why?"

"Fancy playing a game with me? See if you can get the Quaffle past one of the best Keepers in the leagues? Get five past me and I'll buy you dinner."

"Someone's certainly humble. I hope you're prepared to empty your wallet Oliver Wood because I am not a cheap date." Ginny shot back.

Oliver just grinned at her, "I have no doubt about it. Shall we?"

"We shall."

**A/N: I hope you all had as much fun reading this chapter as I did writing it. The next one's going to be even better when I finish it, but I have a few other fanfics I've been abandoning recently that I need to devote time to, so it'll be a little while. Leave a review after this message~Naomi**


	4. New Beginnings

**DISCLAIMER: Any thing, one, or place you may recognize? I don't own it. It all belongs to JK Rowling. Enjoy!**

**Oliver**

"So where are we going for dinner?" Ginny asked him an hour later. Not only had she managed to get five Quaffles past him, she had built that number up to about fourteen out of thirty tries. No one had ever managed to get that many past him before. He knew he couldn't blame it on his flying; his flying had been flawless. She was just that good. It was scary.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked her as they packed everything back up.

Ginny thought for a moment as he tightened the straps on the box. "There's a new Thai restaurant in Muggle London that I've been wanting to try for a while."

"Sounds good to me, I'm always up for something new." They carried the box and the brooms back inside. By now the sun was starting to sink behind the stands, casting everything in that late afternoon golden glow that Oliver enjoyed so much. He estimated that they had been flying for nearly two hours.

"Can I ask you something?" he said as they were putting away the brooms.

"Sure." She had her back to him as she braced her hands on a bar over her head so she could stretch her back. Oliver smiled to himself, some Quidditch habits you could never kick.

"How come you never went professional?"

Ginny shrugged as she straightened back up and turned to face him. "I could've gone professional really, before everything happened. Towards the end of my fifth year there were scouts from a couple of teams that were coming out to see me play. It has always been a dream of mine to play professionally someday with the Holyhead Harpies and Gwenog Jones, who's been my idol practically since I could talk. Then the war came and all that had to be put on hold. Since Quidditch had been banned at Hogwarts I got out of practice. When the war ended, the leagues were still trying to put themselves back together and no one was even thinking about recruiting. Even if they were, I knew I was nowhere near my old standards. So I focused on my academics when I returned back to Hogwarts for my seventh year. I got a job at the Daily Prophet and soon after moved in with Harry, and I've been there ever since."

Oliver had been surprised that scouts had been coming to see her during her fifth year. They didn't come out to see him until the tail end of his sixth year.

"Have you ever thought about trying to play again?" he asked her, leaning back against the lockers. Ginny sat down on the bench in the middle of the room and laid down on it, one leg propped up on it, the other resting on the floor. She stared at the ceiling for a moment before answering.

"I've thought about it a few times, but for some reason or another I always seem to talk myself out of it, or someone else does. I have a steady, paying job. I'm out of practice. I can't afford the time it would take up. I don't have the right equipment. I'm too old. Honestly, the list could just could on."

Oliver knew the feeling all too well. His friends and family, except his parents, had tried to do the same to him. His parents had always been his biggest fans.

"I'll let you in on something my mum told me when I first started out in this business and everyone seemed to be trying to convince me that this wasn't what I should do. She told me that if it's your dream, your passion, your number one goal in life, to do something, then you shouldn't let anyone or anything get in the way of you achieving that. It was some of the best advice I've ever received."

Ginny smiled ruefully at the ceiling, "My dad gave me the exact same advice when I told him I was thinking about trying again a couple of years ago. My mum doesn't like the idea of me playing Quidditch professionally, partly because she's worried that I'll be hurt and partly because she's dying for grandchildren and she's convinced that I can't have a sports career and a family at the same time."

"Understandable and your dad's a wise man."

Ginny turned her head to the side to look at him, "Why are you curious about all of this anyways?"

"Do you still want to play?" he asked her. Ginny swung herself up into a sitting position and braced her arms on either side of her.

"Yes, I would love to play professionally, but I think I've missed my chance. Most female players my age are either retired or contemplating retirement. The prime recruiting age is eighteen or nineteen. I passed that mark six years ago. I think I'll just stick with my job reporting on Quidditch for right now," she said standing up. "That's the closest I'll ever get to professional Quidditch. Now then, can we please talk about something else?"

Oliver nodded and followed her out of the locker room. He knew a losing fight when he saw one, even if he didn't agree with Ginny. With flying abilities like hers, she could easily make any team in the league, even if she was fifty. Oliver just shrugged and together they Apparated back to his flat.

**Ginny**

When they arrived back at Oliver's flat, Ginny was very quiet. She slipped her shoes off and moved to the sitting room where she nestled into the corner of the couch with her feet tucked up under her. She was grateful that Oliver seemed to sense that she needed her space as he and Godric retreated to his bedroom. Ginny propped her head against one fist as she stared out the window at the fading sunset.

Their conversation earlier had gotten her thinking about her current situation. The more she thought about the last year, the more she came to realize how truly and deeply unhappy she had been with everything. She realized that she had continued dating Harry over the last year simply because she didn't know any other life other than the one she had shared with him. She had become a workaholic like he had claimed last night, because she didn't want to go home to him. They had gone of fewer and fewer dates and hardly made love at all anymore. It seemed like over the last three months or so all they did was bicker and argue with each other.

She had never been truly happy with her two-bit reporting job at the _Daily Prophet_. Sure it brought in an income and kept bread on the table, but honestly, who would be happy reporting on Wizard's Chess Tournaments and writing broom reviews?

Oliver's questioning about why she didn't play professionally had her thinking that maybe she needed to re-evaluate things and find something that made her happy. She realized many of the choices that she had made were to make other people happy. She had dated Harry at first because she wanted to, then because he wanted her to, and finally because her family wanted her to. She had taken the job at the _Daily Prophet_, because her mother wanted her to, hoping it would discourage her from wanting to play Quidditch. At first, Ginny thought she wanted the job too, but the more she worked there, the less she liked it.

That seemed to be all her life had been made up of over the last six years: work and Harry. There were the occasional nights out with Hermione and sometimes Luna. Now even those were infrequent since Hermione had married Ron and Luna was off traveling the world looking for her fantastic creatures with her husband Rolf, whom Ginny had only met a couple of times. For the most part though it had been Harry and work. Ginny sighed, _Merlin, how had I let things get so bad?_

"Oi, Weasley!" Ginny nearly jumped out of her skin at the voice shouting her name. She turned to see Oliver standing in the doorway.

"Don't do that! You startled the living daylights out of me!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry, but I've called your name about three or four times now without any answer," he said.

"Sorry, I was thinking about something. What did you want?"

"I was thinking that why don't we stay in for dinner tonight? I'll treat you to dinner later. Besides you don't have any clothes to change into do you?" He phrased the last part carefully, but Ginny knew the implied meaning behind it. She didn't have any clothes because all of her things were still in hers and Harry's flat.

"No, I don't. I suppose I should remedy that soon. I guess I'll go over after work tomorrow and get my things."

"Would you like me to come with you?" he offered, leaning against the doorframe. Ginny was touched that he would offer, but she shook her head.

"No, it's better that I do it on my own. If Harry saw you there he'd jump to all the wrong conclusions."

"I'm nothing more than a friend helping you out when you're in a tight spot," he protested.

"I know, and I appreciate that, but Harry won't see it that way. He'll assume that we suddenly moved in together that I've been seeing you behind his back, not that he has any right to judge." Ginny realized that she was fuming and forced herself to take a few deep breaths to calm down.

"I can see your point."

"Thanks. So what were you thinking about for dinner?" she asked him changing the subject. She realized that she was actually quite hungry. She glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was nearly seven.

"I was thinking that I might pop down to the Leaky Cauldron and pick up some fish and chips and maybe a couple of Butterbeers."

"Sounds good to me, although after last night, I'm surprised that you would offer to buy me alcohol."

Oliver smiled, "I said a couple of Butterbeers, not a whole case of them." He laughed when Ginny made a face at him. She was surprised by how at ease she felt with Oliver. It was like being with one of her brothers.

"Haha, very funny."

He shrugged, "I thought it was funny." Ginny just looked at him. Oliver held up his hands in surrender.

"All right, all right, fish and chips coming right up." He Apparated on the spot with an audible "pop." Ginny smiled to herself, but her good mood soon evaporated as she realized that she would have to face Harry tomorrow and tell her family that she and Harry had split. She thumped her head down on the arm of the couch and groaned.

True to his word, Oliver returned about twenty minutes later with two steaming packages of fish and chips and a four pack of Butterbeers. Ginny looked up from where she had installed herself at the kitchen table with the latest copy of _Quidditch Weekly_. She had found the magazine in the stack of mail on the table in the entry hall after she decided that she needed something to distract herself with. Godric was curled up by her feet.

"I didn't know you had been made the Captain of Puddlemere," she said as he walked into the kitchen, holding the magazine up so that he could see the full-cover photo of one of his team photos with the caption "Quidditch Star Oliver Wood, Puddlemere United's New Captain."

He shrugged setting the food and drinks on the table. "I don't know why it's such a big deal. None of the other new captains got this much coverage. To be honest all the publicity is the only downside to playing professionally. It's bloody weird to see your face plastered everywhere, even in your own mail. All the press conferences and interviews and such take away from time that I could be flying."

Ginny just stared at him across the table, not believing what she was hearing, "No big deal? Oliver, you're the youngest person to be made captain of a professional team in the entire history of Quidditch. It's kind of a big deal."

He just shrugged again as he tore open one of the packages of fish and chips, "I don't really care about any of that. Sure I was pleased when they offered me the captaincy, but to me it's all about flying and playing."

"I honestly didn't believe Fred and George when they said you ate, slept, and breathed Quidditch, but now I can see that they were right," she said opening her own package of fish and chips and popping the cap off a Butterbeer.

"Sounds about right," Oliver said.

Ginny grinned, "I have a feeling we'll get on just fine." She raised her bottle in a toast, "To new beginnings."

He raised his bottle with a smile, "To new beginnings."

**A/N: As always what did you think? Leave me a message after this note~Naomi**


	5. Moving Out, Moving On?

**A/N: WOW, I honestly did not expect this chapter to be this long. I had so much fun writing this chapter, so much of the awesomeness that is Ginny Weasley. DISCLAIMER: Any thing, one, or place you may recognize belongs solely to JK Rowling. Enjoy!**

**Ginny**

When Ginny awoke the next morning she found a note from Oliver on the kitchen table explaining that he was at Quidditch practice and not to expect him back until late. Ginny had fixed herself a bowl of cereal for breakfast before getting dressed and saying goodbye to a pathetic looking Godric and heading to work.

She was currently sitting at her desk wolfing down a sandwich during the last fifteen minutes of her lunch break. The first forty-five had been spent filing an article for the next edition of the paper. She was just finishing the last couple of bites when Anna, one of her friends at the Prophet, came over to her desk.

"Hey Anna," Ginny greeted the tall, blonde witch. Anna was another sports reporter at the Prophet.

"Hey Ginny, I just wanted to give you a heads up that _he's_ looking for you."

Ginny groaned. The _he_ being referred to was Stanley Baker, their boss. The man was revolting with a stomach wider than he was tall and you could always tell what he'd had to eat that day because the massacred remains of the meal would be clinging to his tangled beard. He had disgusting pudgy, wandering hands and close-set beady eyes that seemed to follow Ginny and Anna where ever they went, being the only female reporters in the division. Ginny had a sneaking suspicion that it was because she was a woman that she hadn't been promoted yet.

"Thanks for the heads up Anna," Ginny grumbled. Dealing with Baker was not something she really wanted to do today, or really any day for that matter, but especially not today. As if he could sense her thinking about him, the man himself came waddling around the corner. Anna gave her an encouraging smile before scurrying off to her desk.

"Ah Ginny, just the person I was looking for," he said coming up to her desk. His voice was the man's only redeeming feature. It was a lovely, rich, deep baritone. Honestly, it should be illegal for someone like Stanley to have a voice like that.

Ginny plastered on her best fake smile for him, "What can I do for you today Stan?"

"It's about that broom review piece you submitted a couple of days ago," he told her leaning one hip against her desk. Ginny watched his body spill over onto her desk out of the corner of her eye, valiantly trying not to hurl the sandwich she had just consumed.

"What about it?"

"Well there seem to be some discrepancies in your facts."

"My facts are dead on, maybe you should check yours," Ginny said, her temper finally getting the better of her.

"Really Ginny, that's no way to talk to a supervisor!" he exclaimed, his jowls flapping in indignation. Ginny decided she'd had enough of this; she'd lost one thing already this week, why not go for broke.

"You're right, that is no way to talk to a supervisor," she said rising to her feet. Ginny had a good five inches on the man, he was that short. "So I guess it's a good thing you're no longer my supervisor. I quit."

Stanley just gaped at her, his mouth opening and closing in astonishment. The entire office had gone silent as everyone watched what was happening.

"B-b-but you can't just _quit_!" he finally sputtered.

"Oh yes I can, just you watch me," she said, snatching up her bag and coat and marching for the door.

"You can't quit because I fire you!" Stanley called after her retreating form. Ginny stopped, _honestly what is it with men and yelling insults behind her back this week._ She turned to look at him.

"You can't fire me you pompous ass because I already quit!" With that final remark Ginny hit him with a Stinging Jinx that left him unable to sit for a week as she stormed out of the office.

**Oliver**

Oliver arrived at practice that morning to find his team mates sitting in a cluster around Lee Brice, one of the Chasers, who was holding a copy of the latest edition of the Daily Prophet.

"Oi, what's so interesting to you lot that it's holding up practice? We've a very important match coming up soon," he called as he entered the locker room, although he had a sinking suspicion he knew what it might be. The feeling only increased when they all looked up at him with the same gleeful smiled.

"You say that every match Oliver, besides a story in the Opinions section about how Puddlemere United's Star Captain carried some drunken bird out of the Leaky Cauldron a couple of nights ago is much more interesting," Channing Patricks, their Seeker, told him looking like the cat that had swallowed the proverbial canary.

"Aw Shiite, is it really in the Daily Prophet?" Oliver groaned. That's all he needed.

"So it's true then?" This came from Phillip Abernathy, one of the team's burly Beaters.

"Who was the bird?" Lee asked him. _Thank Merlin they didn't mention Ginny's name_, Oliver thought. That would be just pouring gasoline on an already inferno.

"What does the rest of the article say?" he asked ignoring Lee's question.

The Chaser shrugged, glancing down that the paper, "Not much, mostly it's some old biddy complaining about how people should know their limits when they drink and how disgraceful the girl's behavior was as that was no way for a lady to comport herself."

Oliver snorted in amusement as he thought about what Ginny's reaction would be to being called a lady. Somehow he didn't think that she would take it all that well. Bringing his attention back to the matter at hand he found his team staring at him expectantly.

"What?"

"So who was she?" Lee asked impatiently.

"No one, just an old family friend who'd had too much to drink and I was making sure she got home safely is all or else her brothers might have had my hide. Nothing exciting. Sorry."

"You're not going to tell us her name are you?" Phillip asked him.

"No, I'm not, now will you lot of daft buggers get out on the pitch so we can start practice?" Oliver grumbled in good-natured exasperation.

"Blimey, making you Captain took all the fun out of you," Channing commented.

Oliver shrugged, "Sorry mate, but pitch, now."

"Yes mum," they all deadpanned with comically straight faces as they picked up their equipment and headed out the door. Oliver rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and shook his head at the men he considered as his second family, before following them out the door.

**Ginny**

After Ginny left the office she wandered around Diagon Alley for a while. She didn't really have a plan for the moment. It was the first time in a long time that she was completely free to do whatever she wanted. She wasn't quite ready to face Harry and their flat just yet so she decided she would drop by Weasley's Wizard Wheezes to see George. Never in a million years would Ginny have imagined that her brothers' enterprise that had started with experiments in their bedroom would become an international, multi-million Galleon thriving business. George had just recently returned from a trip to China where they had opened a new shop in Wizarding Beijing. Some days she thought that even George couldn't believe how much their business had taken off. He was one of the most successful businessmen in Great Britain.

George was running everything on his own from their original shop in Diagon Alley, with help from Hermione on the nuances of business and legal dealings. While Fred may not be there in person, there were still influences of him in everything that was created.

When Ginny arrived at number 93 Diagon Alley, it was in complete chaos as usual. When she stepped inside, she ducked to avoid one of their smaller fireworks products while at the same time dodging out of the way of two small boys gleefully chasing after a yellow Pygmy Puff. She shook her head with a smile. No matter what her day had been like, it was near impossible to not be happy in this place.

She waded into the crowds to look for her brother, finding his right hand assistant Verity instead who was balancing a stack of boxes with one arm and retrieving a product for a customer with another.

"Ginny!" she shouted when she saw the redhead standing there. "Good to see you! If you're looking for George the last I saw him, he was upstairs by where the Skiving Snack Boxes are."

Ginny smiled at the harried woman, "Thanks Verity!" She got a nod in acknowledgement as Verity was nearly toppled over by a tall wizard running past her being pursued by one of WWW's newest inventions just in time for Valentine's Day, which was right around the corner, Cupid Arrows. It was kind of a 2-by-4 alternate to Love Potions for the most oblivious witches and wizards. Ginny thought her brother Ron could have used one, then he would have come to his senses about Hermione a lot sooner than he did. There was a never a dull moment in the shop, that was for sure.

She ducked and dodged her way through the crowds and made her way upstairs, making sure to dodge the sixth and fourteenth steps as both were trick stairs. One trapped you there for about ten minutes and the other transported you back down to the bottom of the stairs. Ginny chuckled as she remembered poor Neville constantly ending up at the bottom of the stairs one day until Hermione finally took pity on him and showed him where the trick stairs were.

When she got to the second floor, she found George right where Verity said he would be. He was currently demonstrating one of the Skiving Snack Box items that covered the consumer in painful-looking boils, but in reality they didn't hurt at all. The group of customers around him were clamoring with various questions and comments, however, when George saw her standing there, his eyes widened in surprise and he disentangled himself to come over and give her a bone-crushing hug.

"Ginny!" he exclaimed finally releasing her.

"I'm glad to see you too George," she laughed once she was sure she could breathe again.

"Where have you been? Mum's been worried sick."

She looked at her brother in confusion. "What do you mean where have I been?" As soon as she asked the question she answered it herself. Of course, she hadn't been home the last day and a half, almost two days now. She felt her good mood slowly start to evaporate as she thought about how George and her mother would know that. Sure enough her brother confirmed it with his next words.

"Harry showed up at the Burrow night before last looking for you; said you two had row earlier that day and that you ran off and he hadn't seen you since. He stopped by yesterday too when you still hadn't shown up. Threw mum into a right fit. She was a wreck despite the fact that I kept pointing out to her that your hand on the clock wasn't pointing to anything dangerous, although we also couldn't figure out why it was pointing to home either when you obviously weren't there. What on earth did you two fight about anyways since I can tell from your face that you're still angry."

"He didn't tell you what we fought about?" Ginny asked incredulously. The nerve that complete arsehole had, trying to stay in her family's good graces after what he did to her.

George shook his head, "No he didn't say, just told us that you two had a row."

"Can we talk in your office, or better yet, upstairs? This isn't exactly a conversation meant for public ears."

George shrugged, "Sure, just hold on minute." He leaned precariously over the railing and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Verity!" Several people around them jumped at the force of his bellow.

"What?" a shout equally as loud, came back surprising Ginny. She wouldn't have thought that the petite brunette had it in her. As it was she couldn't actually see the woman in the question in the crowd below.

"You've got the shop. Drag Lee and Seamus out of the back and put them to work. I have to go take care of a family matter!"

"Alright, I'll try to keep them from causing too much carnage and destruction," she called back. George chuckled as he turned back to Ginny.

"How on earth do you two do that?" That would have been a great talent to have when she was Quidditch Captain for Gryffindor. She could yell, but not at that level.

"Years of practice and plenty of lung capacity dear Ginerva. Now then, come along and tell your favorite brother what's troubling you." Ginny merely rolled her eyes at him as she followed him upstairs to the flat he and his wife Angelina lived in above the shop.

**George**

Five minutes later George was sitting in an armchair in his sitting room, watching his youngest sibling pacing back and forth, trying her best to wear a whole in his new carpet that he had brought back from a business trip.

"Alright Ginny, spill. What in the name of Merlin has gotten you so riled up?" There were only a handful of times prior to this that he had seen his sister this angry.

"I caught Harry with another woman," she said launching in without preamble.

George knew that his mouth was hanging open and his face was completely slack from his shock, but there was nothing that he could do about it. He was floored. He had been expecting anything but this. To all outward appearances Harry seemed to adore Ginny. _I guess you really can't judge a book by its cover._

"He WHAT?!"

"He was with another woman. More specifically a waitress from the pub down the road. A woman he didn't even know!"

George forced himself to take a deep calming breath since at the moment all he could see was red.

"What exactly were they doing?" he asked sounding more rational than he felt. Right now all he wanted to do was find that sorry git and string him up by his toes.

Ginny stopped her furious pacing to turn and face her brother. She was visibly shaking with the force of her anger. Despite everything, George felt a brief twinge of pity for Harry. His life was going to be anything but pleasant with an angry Ginny Weasley in it.

"He was shagging her! In our bloody bed!" she exploded collapsing onto the sofa. "Six years and he just tossed it out the window in one night!" Furious tears were streaming down her face.

George found himself gripping the armrests with white-knuckled fury. How dare someone do this to his little sister? Now it was his turn to be the one shaking with fury. He didn't care that the sod was the Chosen One or the Boy Who Lived. He'd be the Boy Who Wished He Was Dead by the time George was through with him. He bolted to his feet, ready to start a lynch mob. He could think of six other people who would be more than willing to join him.

"If you're planning on finding him and hexing him to bits, don't bother. I already took care of that," Ginny said looking slightly amused through her tears.

George relaxed a little. Harry had definitely already paid some if Ginny had already hexed him. He went over and sat down next to her on the sofa.

"Maybe I should have been an Auror. I seem to be pretty good at hexing people here lately," Ginny muttered.

George cocked an eyebrow at his sister. "Who else has incurred your wrath lately?"

Ginny blushed, "Well, I may have put a Stinging Jinx on my boss after I quit my job today."

George snorted, trying not to laugh. "A Stinging Jinx _where_ exactly?" Although George had a pretty good idea as to where she had put it.

"Suffice to say, he won't be sitting comfortably for a while." That did it. George collapsed into a fit of howling laughter. Ginny just watched him with a bemused expression.

"I'm sorry Ginny, but we've all been wondering how long it would take before something like this would happen," he said once he could breathe again.

"Was everyone, but me, aware of how truly unhappy I was working there?"

"I'm afraid so. I knew pretty much from the first week, but now you've finally come to your sense even if it did take rather awful events to trigger it." Ginny looked so dejected and melancholy at this statement that George reached over and pulled her to him.

"So what are you going to do now?" he asked her. He felt her shrug underneath his chin.

"I don't know. I've got a temporary place to stay with a friend until I can find somewhere of my own. As for work, I have no idea. I wasn't exactly planning on quitting when I walked into work this morning."

"That brings me back to my original question, which you never did answer. Where have you been these last couple of days?" She had mentioned that she was staying with a friend, but he couldn't think of who it was. He knew it wasn't Hermione or Luna since Harry had checked with both of them when he was looking for Ginny.

"He's someone you know. He found me completely drunk off my ass in the Leaky Cauldron, raving and ranting at the bartender and took me back to his flat so I could have someplace to sleep it off since I was certainly in no condition to Floo or Apparate anywhere. When I explained the situation to him the next morning, he offered to let me stay in his guest room while I figured things out."

George thought for a moment, piecing recent events together before a realization smacked him in the face. He let Ginny go and held her back so he could look at her fully.

"You mean Oliver?! You're staying with Oliver Wood?" For the second time that day he was completely floored. His sister was full of surprises today. He would have never seen that one coming.

"How'd you figure that one out so fast?" she said, sounding surprised.

"Wait right here for a minute," he told her before getting that morning's _Prophet_ from the kitchen, remembering a piece Angelina had pointed out to him about their former housemate and Quidditch Captain.

When he got back to the sitting room, he handed to Ginny pointing to the piece in the Opinions column. Her face went from confused to bland to completely mortified in less than thirty seconds as her eyes scanned the article. She threw the paper onto the coffee table in disgust.

"People need to learn to mind their own business. At least the old bat didn't know who I was," she said to no one in particular.

"Sounds like you've had a rough last couple of days, but I'm curious, why stay with Oliver? Why not stay at the Burrow?"

Ginny just gave him a pointed look.

"Oh right, mum. You two would drive each other mental."

She nodded, "Strange as my choice may seem, staying with Oliver gives me the best option for what I need right now, which is time and space to figure things out. I couldn't stay with Hermione since seeing her and Ron so happy together would just be painful and Luna's usually off traveling the world, chasing after her creatures."

"I can see your reasoning. It's still surprising as hell."

Ginny smiled, "You're telling me. Never in my life would I have thought that I'd be Oliver Wood's flat mate." George chuckled.

"Speaking of which, I better get going. I have a few other things to take care of this morning," she said her nose wrinkling in distaste as she stood. George could guess at what these things involved.

"Want me to come with?" he offered as they walked to the door.

"I appreciate the thought, but I really don't fancy you being put into Azkaban for the rest of your life just because some bastard broke my heart. Oliver offered too. He was just as outraged as you were. No, I think this is something that I have to deal with on my own. Besides, after I Bat-Bogeyed him the other night, I think Harry'll be a bit leery of trying anything with me."

George laughed. "Alright point taken. By the way should you decided to get even, any product you want from the shop is yours free of charge. I might even let you have some of the more experimental ones that aren't ready for the public yet. I have actually been looking for a new guinea pig," he said looking pensive as he thought about all the products he could test out.

Ginny chuckled at her brother, "I may just take you up on that offer. I'm glad that I stopped by. You've made me feel much better about things."

George gave her another hug, "Good, glad I could help. I do have one thing to ask of you though. Will please owl or Floo or just get in contact with mum so she'll stop panicking? Apparently she's even gone so far as to owl Charlie to ask if he's seen you."

She nodded as he opened the door for her, "I'll do that tonight. Thanks George."

"No problem. Now I had better get back downstairs and make sure the shop's still in one piece/ Between Lee and Seamus it's been nearly blown up at least four times, that I know of. An entire case of fireworks went off in the storage room just last week."

His sister turned to look back at him over her shoulder as they headed downstairs. "But you wouldn't have it any other way. Chaos should have been your middle name."

George grinned, "You know me so well little sister."

**Ginny**

Her talk with George had made Ginny feel infinitely better. The more she got it off her chest, the more rational she felt. Now instead of wanting to obliterate Harry into dust, she merely wanted to severely maim him.

After she had left the shop, Ginny debated about what to do. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was nearly four. She could either go back to the flat or she could face Harry.

"Might as well get it over with, no sense in prolonging the ordeal," she said, remembering a Muggle saying Hermione had told her once. Something about Muggle first-aid and ripping bandages. Taking a deep breath Ginny turned and Apparated on the spot.

Her feet hit the concrete sidewalk in front of the flat she and Harry had lived in for the last four years. It was in a nice quiet area of Wizarding London, a few blocks away from Diagon Alley. The building itself was an old brick dwelling with ivy crawling all over it. Ginny tried the front door and found that it was locked. She took out her wand and pointed it at the door handle.

"Alohamora." There was an audible click as both the lock and the deadbolt unlocked. When Ginny pushed open the door she saw that Harry's coat was missing from the rack by the door, meaning that he was still at work. With any luck, he would be working on a case that would keep him late at the office and she could pack everything up in peace. Transfiguring a couple of plates into boxes, she set about packing everything up.

A hour and a half later Ginny was just packing the last of her things in the bedroom when she heard the front door open.

"Damn," she muttered to the room. Ginny wasn't afraid to deal with Harry, she just really did not feel like having this conversation right now. She shrunk the last box and put it in the first box with the others before shrinking that one as well and tucking it in her pocket. She sighed and walked out into the hallway. Harry emerged from the sitting room with his wand drawn. She had forgotten to lock the door behind her and he must have assumed someone had broken in. When he saw her standing there in the hallway he froze in surprise before moving toward her to embrace her.

"Ginny-" She cut him off, holding out a hand against his advancement.

"Stop right there Harry. Take one more step and I'll hex something besides your face this time."

He stopped dead in his tracks, knowing she was being completely serious. "Ginny look, I'm sorry. I made a mistake.

She snorted, "Well that's the understatement of the century."

"Listen, I wasn't thinking. You can't begin to understand how stupid I felt, still feel."

Ginny stared at him in disbelief. Was he honestly trying to use these excuses on her? "Oh you were thinking plenty, just not with the head attached to your shoulders. I'm glad you feel stupid, because you are. You are a raging, bone headed idiot." She never raised her voice through all this. She said it all in a voice that was quiet and cold with her rage, making it so much worse than if she had yelled.

"Please, I can explain," he pleaded.

"Just stop right there. What is there to explain? How you completely destroyed my faith and trust in you? How much of a prick you are? How you _betrayed _me? How you hurt me and utterly obliterated my heart? There's nothing to explain there, because I know exactly how it all happened."

"Look," Harry said exasperated, "I really am sorry. I promise it won't happen again!"

She goggled at him for a moment before she found her voice again. "Like hell it won't. You already told me you weren't getting enough satisfaction from me so you had to seek it elsewhere."

"I didn't mean those things when I said them. They just came out before I could think about what I was saying," Harry continued, trying to win her back over.

"Oh, I'm sure you thought about what you said plenty." She softened her stance a bit. "Tell me, were you really unhappy in our relationship. Be straight with me."

He sighed looking defeated. "No I wasn't, at least not in the past year or so. Were you?"

"I wasn't either, but I didn't come to this realization until yesterday. I'm moving out so feel free to have as many women over as you," she said, back to being angry. She walked past him to the door before he could stop her. She turned back with her hand on the doorknob. "Honestly Harry, grow a pair and break-up with a girl to her face rather than taking the coward's way out and sleeping with some harlot behind her back." Before he could respond, Ginny was already out the door, slamming it resolutely behind her. She heard him turning the handle on the door as she Apparated back to Oliver's flat.

When she arrived back at the flat she found it empty as Oliver hadn't returned from practice yet. Godric, however, came out of the sitting room to greet her and twine himself around her legs. Ginny scratched him briefly behind the ears before heading to the guest room and depositing her coat on the bed. She's wait to unpack things until later. Right now she had to go placate her mother. She'd noticed earlier there was a pot of Floo powder on the mantle above the fireplace. Ginny took a handful and knelt in front of the fireplace. She put her head in and tossed the powder on the wood, shouting "The Burrow" through the roar of the resulting emerald flames.

When her head finally stopped spinning, Ginny found herself at floor level with the Burrow's kitchen. She could hear someone moving about in the room.

"Mum?" There wasn't an answer so she tried calling again, only louder this time.

"Mum!" There was a loud crash that sounded more like something you would hear in George's shop rather than in her family home before her mother came into view. She looked around before spotting Ginny's head in the fireplace. She fell to her knees in front of the hearth.

"Ginerva Molly Weasley, _where_ have you been?" she demanded. "You had us all worried sick about you! I you might have been seriously injured or dead!"

Ginny winced. Her mother only used her children's full names when she was truly displeased with them.

"Don't worry mum, I'm fine. I didn't know anyone was looking for me until George told me when I stopped by the shop earlier. "

Her mother pursed her lips, "Yes well you definitely made yourself hard to find. Where did you go? Is everything all right between you and Harry?"

"I'm staying with an old friend who offered the use of their guest room temporarily and let's just say that Harry and I are no longer together."

Her mother opened her mouth to say something, but Ginny cut her off. "Mum, I'll come over tomorrow afternoon and explain everything to you, but right now I have to go."

"Well, alright. I'm just glad that you're alive and safe."

"Love you mum."

"Love you too dear."

Ginny pulled back out of the fireplace and the green flames disappeared. She stood and dusted herself off, before heading back to her room. Her plan now was to unpack and then take a good, long soak in the bath. That sounded like a very good plan right now.

**Oliver**

It was dark by the time Oliver arrived back home after practice. Once he had gotten his team to focus on the task at hand it had actually gone pretty decent. He unlocked the door and stepped inside. He realized Ginny must be home since he could hear her talking in the sitting room amidst the sounds of explosions and car chases coming from the television he had bought a couple of years ago. It was a little strange coming home with someone else in his flat. Oliver dropped his bags in the hallway and followed the sounds to the sitting room.

Ginny was curled up in the corner of the sofa in a dark green t-shirt and great sweatpants, giving a running commentary of the movie she was watching to Godric who was sprawled out next to her. An open pint of Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Therapy ice cream was held in one hand and a spoon was in the other.

"Rough day?" he asked. Ginny jumped. Godric merely lifted his head and when he saw it was only Oliver, promptly went back to sleep.

"Oliver, jeez I didn't even hear you come in. To answer your question yes it was a rough day," she said looking around to see him standing there in the door way.

"What are you watching?"

"Uh, the Bourne Legacy. Want to join me? I just started it," she offered.

"Sure, let me wash up first. I'm not sure you'd want my company with the way I smell right now." Ginny chuckled and nodded, turning back to the movie and her ice cream. Oliver retrieved his bags from the hall and headed for his room for a shower and a change of clean clothes.

Thirty minutes later, after having made himself a quick sandwich for dinner, Oliver joined Ginny on the sofa, moving a rather disgruntled Godric out of the way. Ginny caught him up on what he had missed as she polished off the last of the ice cream. Currently Aaron Cross was dashing across rooftops somewhere in the Philippines.

They had been sitting there watching the movie in silence for a few minutes before Ginny spoke again, setting aside her now empty ice cream container.

"I quit my job today," she announced.

Oliver regarded her in surprise. "Really?" She nodded turning on the sofa so she could face him.

"Yeah and I definitely don't think that they're likely to hire me back anytime soon. Not that I would want to go back to work there."

He propped his head against his fist on the back of the sofa as he turned to mirror her position. "Oh, and why is that?"

"I might have hexed my boss as I left," she told him looking somewhere over his right shoulder.

Oliver fought back a smile. "You might have hexed your boss?"

"Yes, with a Stinging Jinx to be precise so he wouldn't be able to sit comfortably for a while." Oliver was fighting valiantly not to laugh by now, although he could see Ginny's lips quirking up in a smile at the corners. He finally lost it and Ginny eventually joined him. Godric leaped off the couch giving the hysterical humans a baleful glare before stalking off for a quieter area of the house.

"Sorry," Oliver apologized once he could breathe again, "but that's the funniest thing that I've heard all day. I'm just picturing you doing that to your boss. It must've been brilliant."

"It was. I didn't think it was very funny at the time, but he did have it coming. It was only a matter of time before it happened really. I am rather pleased with myself," she said with a smug grin.

"So what're you going to do now?" he asked her. Secretly he hoped she might reconsider playing Quidditch.

She shrugged, "I don't know yet. I'm not really sure what I want to do. I figured I'd give myself week for just myself before making any decisions. I haven't taken any time for myself in so long I've almost forgotten what it's like."

Oliver nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a good idea to me. Seems like you've had a rather eventful day. I take it you moved all you're stuff out this afternoon," he said with a nod in the direction of her clothes.

She made a face. "I did. I was able to get most of it done in peace seeing as how I got an unexpected early start and Harry was still at work when I got there. It wasn't until I was pretty well finished and getting ready to leave that Harry showed up."

"How did that go?"

"About like I expected it would. He tried to make all sorts of outrageous claims and excuses. I called him out on all of them. I did get him to admit that he had been unhappy in the relationship. I then told him to grow a pair and break up with someone to their face rather than taking the coward's way out. He was still standing in the hallway gaping at me when I left and came back here." She looked at him quizzically as he collapsed into another fit of laughter.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry," he said between fits. "It's j-just…really am-amusing that you….t-t-told Harry P-Potter…The Boy Who Lived to…g-grow a p-p-pair!" He was about to nearly fall on the floor he was laughing so hard. A second later he did find himself on the floor as Ginny had hooked one foot under his leg and expertly flipped him off the sofa.

He gawked at her in surprise from his new position on the floor. "What was that for?"

"For finding my personal problems so amusing," she said haughtily. Then she gave him a wicked grin. "And because I wanted to."

He crooked an eyebrow at her and gave her an equally wicked grin. "I believe two can play at that game." Before Ginny could react, he reached out and grabbed both of her legs, dragging her off of the sofa and down onto the rug with him. You didn't become one of the best professional Keepers with slow reflexes. She yelped in surprise as she landed in a heap on the floor.

"You git!" she said slapping him once she had finally untangled herself. Oliver didn't take it personally as he could see a smile fighting to break free from her lips. He was glad he could do something to cheer her up. Finally she gave in to her mirth as she pulled a couple of the pillows off the sofa and propped them behind her.

"I think I like it much better down here actually," she said sprawling out on the floor with her head on the pillows. Oliver mirrored her actions and they lay side by side watching the rest of the movie in a companionable silence. At some point Oliver looked over and saw that Ginny had fallen asleep. He chuckled and pulled the blanket off the back of the sofa to drape over her. He turned back to the movie thinking that having Ginny Weasley for a flat mate was certainly going to be an interesting adventure.

**A/N: Long I know, I'm still astonished. So what did you think? As always I love to know what you think. I really do take your reviews into consideration for future chapters. Leave me a note after this message~Naomi**


End file.
